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It has begun. After what felt like an eternity of rumors, casting calls, blind hearsay, and yet even more rumors, Star Wars: Episode VII is finally finally filming. In the wee hours of the morning, Director J.J. Abrams signaled the start of filming with a tweet from the Bad Robot twitter account showing a picture of a production clapper bearing title of the sequel, along with the caption "#dayone." Like the pop of a marathon gun, the race to shoot a great Star Wars sequel is on, but now comes the hard part. Shooting a blockbuster, and especially shooting a Star Wars blockbuster, is not a task for the faint of heart, and series creator George Lucas struggled mightily to complete his epic space opera. The production of the original film was plagued with setbacks, and it's frankly a miracle that we're even celebrating the creation of a seventh Star Wars film given the barriers Lucas had to overcome to get his originall film made. Take a look at all the stumbles, issues, and setbacks involved with creating the first Star Wars.
The film was rejected twice before finding a distributorBack when the billion dollar franchise was just a few scrawled notes and a big idea, George Lucas approached United Artist with a pitch for a space opera called The Star Wars. The studio passed on the idea, and Lucas went on to make American Graffiti before returning to his Star Wars project two years later. After tinkering with the story, Lucas wrote a 13-page treatment for the project and presented it this time to Universal, who similarly rejected it, deeming it too strange and complaining that science fiction wasn't popular enough at the time to merit such an expensive film. The film was eventualy picked up by 20th Century Fox, and the rest was history.
Filming in Tunisia was a painLucas originally envisioned Tatooine as a lush jungle planet, but the idea of shooting on location in a jungle seemed more problematic than it was worth, so Lucas decided to change the home of the Skywalkers into a desert planet instead, and began filming in Tunisia. Unfortunately for Lucas, the switch in shooting locations wasn't without its own issues. Shooting fell behind schedule when the set was hit with a rare Tunisian rainstorm. The set was also plagued with electronic breakdowns and prop malfunctions, one of which injured C-3P0 actor Anthony Daniels.
And no one seemed to care about the project except for LucasBefore Star Wars began making actual dividends, the film had it's fair share of doubters, as any film would, but even the cast and crew had a hard time taking Lucas and his epic space opera seriously. Much of the crew laughed off the project as a kid's film and rarely put in their all into filming. Kenny Baker, who played R2D2, thought the film would be a massive failure. Even Harrison Ford had his doubts, remarking how weird some elements of the film were, including Princess Leia's buns and Chewbacca, who he claimed looked like a "giant in a monkey suit."
Lucasfilm Ltd. via Everett Collection
Lucas' own frustrations hampered the filmFacing a film that was grossly overbudget and well behind schedule, the enormity of blockbuster filmmaking became almost too much for Lucas. The director frequently clashed with his crew over creative differences and was largely dissatisfied with the look of costumes and sets, most of which failed to live up to his vision. He became visibly depressed and passed on his frustrations to his actors while providing little in the way of direction. Things got so bad that during post-production, the filmmaker was diagnosed with hypertension and exhaustion, and was warned to slow down by doctors.
The first cut was a complete disasterAfter struggling to get his film finished on time, Lucas was disappointed to learn that the first cut of the film was, in his eyes, a "complete disaster." The first edit by film editor John Jumpson was so bad, it is said that 30 to 40 percent of the footage didn't make it to the final version of the film. Lucas ended up switching his editing team, employing his wife, Paul Hirsch, and Richard Chew to finish the job right.
The greatest directors of the time weren't crazy about itIn 1977, Lucas screened a rough cut of the film for some of his directing buddies, a list that now reads like a who's who of legendary directors, including Steven Spielberg, Brian De Pama, and John Milius. The cut was the very definition of rough. James Earl Jones signature baritone wasn't the voice behind Darth Vader, paper arrows stood in for blaster beams, and instead of a space battle between the Millennium Falcon and TIE fighters, footage of WWII dogfights was spliced in. Reaction to this early cut of the film was lukewarm at best, with Spielberg being the only one of the directors who clearly enjoyed the film. On the other hand, the studio execs greatly enjoyed the early cut of the film, with producer Gareth Wigan saying, "This is the greatest film I've ever seen."
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It takes a misunderstood artist to know one, so when Seth Rogen revealed that his good friend James Franco has plans to play Tommy Wiseau in an adaptation of The Disaster Artist: My Time in The Room, the world responded, "Well, of course." Rogen revealed the plans during an appearance on the Opie and Anthony radio show where he talked about the film, which he will produce with his writing partner Evan Goldberg. Based on the book by Greg Sestero - who co-starred in the infamous cult hit - the film will chronicle the production process of The Room, which was plagued by problems and cost its writer/director/producer over $10 million.
The Disaster Artist isn't the first time that Franco has expressed interest in Wiseau and his work. Last year, he wrote an in-depth piece about The Room for Vice, and described Wiseau as "ageless, muscled, sweet, and scary; he is part vampire, part Hollywood dreamer, part gangster, part Ed Wood, and super lonely." Franco's depiction of Wiseau as a tortured genius is fitting, especially considering Franco is sometimes portrayed as a underrated artistic icon as well. The fact that much of Franco's statement can be used to describe himself seems to illustrate exactly why the Francophrenia star is the perfect person to step into the shoes of Wiseau. It's just one of the many qualities that Franco and Wiseau have in common:
Both Are Multi-Hypenate Artists... Though Wiseau is primarily known for his work on The Room, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in, he has also produced and acted in several other films, as well as creating a television show and two web series. Franco, meanwhile, has dabbled in almost every artistic medium there is, and in addition to acting, directing, screenwriting and producing. He is also a painter, poet, teacher and novelist. Plus, he starred in Spider Man 3, which is basically The Room of the superhero genre.
Whose Work is Not Taken Seriously.. Though most of the world loves The Room for being so terrible that it's entertaining, Wiseau seemed to believe it to be a great work of artistic genuis. He now seems to admit that it's not very good, though whether he's truly changed his mind about it or is just playing along, we'll probably never know. Similarly, much of Franco's non-acting work has received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, many of whom dismiss him because of his celebrity status. Like Wiseau, he has also capitalized on the criticism to make fun of himself, although we're almost certain that he still truly believes himself to be an artistic genius.
And Are Famous For the Wrong Reasons. Wiseau's celebrity is due entirely to the fact that The Room is, according to Entertainment Weekly, "the Citizen Kane of bad movies," rather than any of his other, more successful projects. While Franco's been giving solid acting performances since his breakthrough role in Freaks and Geeks, he's more likely to get press coverage for things like taking half-naked selfies, inappropriate Instagram behavior, or fighting with critics on Twitter. And those are just from the last two months.
Both Are Enigmas...The little that is known about Wiseau's life comes from Sestero's book, which reads like the plot of a Nicolas Cage film. According to the story, Wiseau was born in communist Europe, moved to France and worked as a dishwasher before he was wrongfully arrested and tortured by the police. From there, he made his way to Louisiana, then to San Francisco, where he sold toys to tourists, changed his name and somehow made enough money to fund his film. Franco has revealed a lot more about his life, but he still makes it difficult for the public to get a grasp on who he is, primarily due to his strange career moves, various artistic endeavors and inability to open his eyes all the way. As Jonah Hill said at his roast "I've known you for years, and I'm still not sure I've ever actually met the real you."
Who Have Seen Their Writing Adapted Into Films...Franco's collection of short stories, Palo Alto, was recently adapted into a film by Gia Coppola - with Franco starring, obviously - which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival to largely positive reviews. Wiseau, however, preferred to direct his adaptation himself, and turned his 540-page novel into The Room. Since the final product wasn't 9 hours long, that means enough was cut from the novel to be the basis for an entire Room film franchise.
And Both Have a Connection To James Dean.According to Sestero's book, Wiseau was so enamored of the late actor that several lines The Room were based on the dialogue in the film Rebel Without A Cause. He also revealed that Wiseau frequently visited a restaurant owned by one of Dean's friends, although if he's looking for a tenuous connection to Dean, he's probably better off befriending Franco, who won a Golden Globe for playing Dean in a TV biopic. Besides, it'll save him a lot of money in the long run.
Also, They Look Alike Just put a long, dark wig on Franco's head and give him a healthy spray tan, and they could be twins.
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Over the almost 50 years of Saturday Night Live, there have been plenty of seasons that were good (more than most casual observers would like to admit) and bad (some spectacularly so). There was, though, only one 1984: quite possibly the strangest season in the history of the show.
With Eddie Murphy completely gone to pursue his superstar movie career and the second most recognizable cast member, Joe Piscopo, having worn out his welcome after the 1983 - '84 season, executive producer Dick Ebersol was left without a star. The remaining cast members, including a young Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jim Belushi, had never quite fit in with the show and were largely dissatisfied with the way that they had been treated. Many people figured that Murphy leaving would finally signal the death knell for SNL.
Righting a Wrong
Instead of trying to develop another young talent like Murphy, Ebersol turned to more established comedians, including one who had almost been part of the original SNL cast. By 1984, Billy Crystal was already a well known entertainer after his stint on the sitcom Soap and his numerous talk show appearances where he imitated celebrities like boxer Mohammed Ali, but in 1974 Crystal had been cut from the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the eve of the show's debut. Why that happened depends largely on who tells the story, but whatever the case, when Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd rocketed to fame, Crystal wasn’t with them. Nor was he offered the spot that went to Bill Murray when Chase left after the first season. Ten years later, Crystal was finally being given the chance to right what he considered a wrong.
The Rest of the Gang
Along with Crystal, Ebersol brought in Martin Short, who had already been a cast member of Canada's SCTV (which launched the careers of John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Catherine O'Hara), as well as Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, fresh off their success in This Is Spinal Tap. Rich Hall, who had been part of an ensemble HBO comedy show called Not Necessarily the News, and Pamela Stephenson, who had been on the British precursor (Not the Nine O'clock News) of Hall's HBO show rounded out the new cast members. It was an odd turn of events considering that Crystal hosted SNL twice the season before he joined the cast, while Guest and Shearer had made a guest appearance as part of Spinal Tap.
The Season
Crystal, Short, and Guest wasted little time putting their stamp on the creative vacuum that they walked into. Ebersol was by all accounts a very good network executive, but he was not a comedian and didn’t come from a creative background. By the season opener, Crystal was already doing his Fernando Lamas impression ("You look mah-velous!") and Short had brought his Ed Grimley character with him from SCTV. By the third show, Crystal and Guest had worked up a breakout routine with their characters Willie and Frankie, who would continuously one-up each other with pain-inducing practices ("I hate it when that happens"). The show never missed a chance to exploit the new popular sketches — a hallmark of the Ebersol era — with Crystal doing his Fernando so frequently that the character almost deserved a separate credit in the opening theme.
More than any season before or since, the show relied on pre-taped segments, with Guest, Shearer, and Short preferring to work that way. While it went against the grain of SNL, some of the short films, particularly Shearer and Short playing aspiring male synchronized swimmers and Guest and Crystal portraying aged Negro League baseball stars were as good as anything that the show had produced.
The Oddness
Perhaps the best remembered episode of the season is the one hosted by wrestler Hulk Hogan and Mr. T to promote the first Wrestlemania. In the most famous segment, the pair appears with Crystal on his "Fernando Hideaway" sketch and can't keep a straight face. While Murphy returned to host and the Beatles' Ringo Starr took a turn, the other hosts included figures like Jesse Jackson, Howard Cosell, and Bob Uecker. The first show of the season didn't even have a host.
Additionally, there was little continuity with the show's fake news segment — called "Saturday Night News" instead of "Weekend Update" — with the show's host sometimes doing the anchoring and real newscaster Edwin Newman sitting in once before Guest finally took over midway through the season.
In stark contrast to the hosts, the seasons musical guests were a who's who of mid-80s pop, with acts like The Thompson Twins, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, and super-groups The Honey Drippers (featuring Robert Plant), and Power Station (featuring Robert Palmer) all making appearances.
The Aftermath
When an industry-wide writers' strike halted production in early March 1985, the show didn’t return from the forced hiatus. The abbreviated season ended after just 17 episodes. NBC was unhappy with spiraling production costs and Ebersol was unhappy with his creative staff. Shearer had quit the show in January citing creative differences ("I was creative and they were different," he said later). Short and Guest didn't want to keep doing a live show. Louis-Dreyfus and Belushi (along with fellow holdover Mary Gross) had been used so little throughout the season that they wanted out. Crystal, enjoying the biggest success of his career, was seemingly the only one who wanted it to continue.
Ebersol demanded a retooling, wanting to change the format to a completely taped show and with possibly a fixed rotation of guest hosts (his ideas for the rotation included Piscopo and David Letterman). Instead, NBC briefly canceled the show. After rethinking things, the network's executives decided that they would agree to give SNL another chance… if its original creator, Lorne Michaels, would take back over.
Then and Now
Eventually, Michaels agreed to return to the show and retained none of the cast or writers from the previous season. Taking a page from Ebersol's book, Michaels tried to use established actors like Randy Quaid and Anthony Michael Hall (along with Robert Downey Jr. and Joan Cusack) to re-launch the show… which very nearly did lead to the show being canceled permanently. It wasn't until the following season when Michaels entrusted SNL to virtual unknowns like Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, Jon Lovitz, Jan Hooks, and Dennis Miller that the show started the run that finally established it as the institution it has become.
The goodwill that the show had gained from Crystal, Short and Guest's lone season helped carry it through Michaels' disastrous first season back. Thirty years later, the 1984 - '85 season remains an oddly alluring anomaly in the long comedic history of SNL.

The official cast of Star Wars: Episode Vii has been revealed. Original Star Wars icons Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill will return to the franchise, as expected, while Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Kenny Baker (R2-D2) will reprise their beloved characters too.
Also announced are Attack The Block star John Boyega, actress Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.
The casting news was posted on the Star Wars Facebook page on Tuesday morning (29Apr14), just days after speculation about Ford, Fisher and Hamill's involvement in Episode VII reached fever pitch after it became clear that all three were in London, where filming on the blockbuster is about to begin. Over the weekend, they were spotted at a cast dinner with Driver and Serkis.
A statement from director J.J. Abrams reads: "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."
The film is due to hit theatres in December, 2015.

Expectant pop star Ciara celebrated the impending birth of her first child with a baby shower in Los Angeles on Saturday (22Mar14). The singer proved she was still very much pregnant following false reports suggesting she had gone into labour earlier this month (Mar14) by joining a number of famous friends, including reality TV stars Kim Kardashian and LaLa Anthony, for the party at a friend's home in the city.
Kardashian posted a number of pictures from the animal-themed shower on her Instagram.com page, adding in one of the captions, "Celebrating Ciara's baby shower today... mommy memories."
Ciara is set to welcome her first child with her rapper fiance Future in the next few weeks.
Her singer pal Monica was unable to attend the baby shower but sent her love to Ciara in a post on Instagram, writing, "@ciara #ThinkingOfU #BothOfU (sic) I love u guys to the moon and back!! There will be many special moments and I don't want to miss any of them... Hugs & Kisses to u & my new #BabyBoo #AuntieMoLovesU #PlentyPlaymatesWaitingOnU LOL (laugh out loud) (sic)".

DreamWorks
For the bulk of every Rocky and Bullwinkle episode, moose and squirrel would engage in high concept escapades that satirized geopolitics, contemporary cinema, and the very fabrics of the human condition. With all of that to work with, there's no excuse for why the pair and their Soviet nemeses haven't gotten a decent movie adaptation. But the ingenious Mr. Peabody and his faithful boy Sherman are another story, intercut between Rocky and Bullwinkle segments to teach kids brief history lessons and toss in a nearly lethal dose of puns. Their stories and relationship were much simpler, which means that bringing their shtick to the big screen would entail a lot more invention — always risky when you're dealing with precious material.
For the most part, Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman handles the regeneration of its heroes aptly, allowing for emotionally substance in their unique father-son relationship and all the difficulties inherent therein. The story is no subtle metaphor for the difficulties surrounding gay adoption, with society decreeing that a dog, no matter how hyper-intelligent, cannot be a suitable father. The central plot has Peabody hosting a party for a disapproving child services agent and the parents of a young girl with whom 7-year-old Sherman had a schoolyard spat, all in order to prove himself a suitable dad. Of course, the WABAC comes into play when the tots take it for a spin, forcing Peabody to rush to their rescue.
Getting down to personals, we also see the left brain-heavy Peabody struggle with being father Sherman deserves. The bulk of the emotional marks are hit as we learn just how much Peabody cares for Sherman, and just how hard it has been to accept that his only family is growing up and changing.
DreamWorks
But more successful than the new is the film's handling of the old — the material that Peabody and Sherman purists will adore. They travel back in time via the WABAC Machine to Ancient Egypt, the Renaissance, and the Trojan War, and 18th Century France, explaining the cultural backdrop and historical significance of the settings and characters they happen upon, all with that irreverent (but no longer racist) flare that the old cartoons enjoyed. And oh... the puns.
Mr. Peabody &amp; Sherman is a f**king treasure trove of some of the most amazingly bad puns in recent cinema. This effort alone will leave you in awe.
The film does unravel in its final act, bringing the science-fiction of time travel a little too close to the forefront and dropping the ball on a good deal of its emotional groundwork. What seemed to be substantial building blocks do not pay off in the way we might, as scholars of animated family cinema, have anticipated, leaving the movie with an unfinished feeling.
But all in all, it's a bright, compassionate, reasonably educational, and occasionally funny if not altogether worthy tribute to an old favorite. And since we don't have our own WABAC machine to return to a time of regularly scheduled Peabody and Sherman cartoons, this will do okay for now.
If nothing else, it's worth your time for the puns.
3/5
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The name Peter Mayhew for the most part only rings bells for the most ardent Star Wars enthusiasts. The 7-foot-2 actor, who donned the costume of Chewbacca in the original trilogy, was lumped in with Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and David Prowse, the faceless group behind R2-D2, C3PO and Darth Vader, respectively –recognizable only if you're a regular Comic-Con attendee.
Mayhew, however, has suddenly found himself with a legion of new followers on Twitter (@TheWookieeRoars) after he recently began tweeting photos that he has from the sets of the Star Wars films. There have been hundreds of pages devoted to George Lucas' brainchild, yet the photos that Mayhew has put out there for public consumption highlight a personal aspect that is frequently missing. It took a Wookiee to remind us that the people behind Star Wars, including Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, are just human beings, after all.
In particular, Mayhew's obvious affection for Fisher is on display. In one photo, Fisher plants a playful kiss on Chewbacca and the actress is never without a smile in the snapshots. In a picture that sent older fan-boys into near cardiac arrest, Fisher is seen sunning herself in the famous Princess Leia slave outfit, along with her identically dressed stunt double. The picture stands in stark contrast to Fisher's long-standing complaints about having to wear the costume.
Equally arresting are the pictures featuring a younger, jovial Ford. It's been a long, long time since the erstwhile Han Solo was willing to let his guard down, but Mayhew's shots of Ford flashing the lopsided grin that made him famous help remind us why he became a superstar apart from Star Wars.
There are also shots of the other hidden players in and out of costume, including Daniels in his C3PO costume trying to stay out of the hot Tunisian sun.
It's like looking at someone's family photo album, only populated with famous people and iconic characters. Seeing Mayhew's picture of Ford and Hamill just sitting on a couch in sweaters looks like it could've come from anybody's stash of pictures from 1979, which is the beauty of it. Unlike publicity photos or even ones taken by a set photographer, Mayhew's shots are really just his pictures of himself with some friends. The fact that it's all taking place on some of the most famous sets in the history of cinema is completely secondary.
Mayhew's original tweet before uploading the treasure trove of pictures said that he was "feeling nostalgic." The man behind Chewbacca was kind enough to share the trip down memory lane with Star Wars fans everywhere and in the process put a human face back on the sci-fi epic. Hopefully, writer-director J.J. Abrams remembers to do the same with the forthcoming Episode VII.
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Universal via Everett Collection
Every movie I saw in 2013, ranked from worst to best:
112. IDENTITY THIEFThe first comedy movie to not make me laugh once.
111. SAVING MR. BANKSInsulting, manipulative, dishonest, and unkind, with occasional song breaks.
110. SCARY MOVIE 5These movies have gotten much worse since we were 13.
109. GETAWAYINT. RACECAR. NIGHT. Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez crash into stuff.
108. GROWN UPS 2So much vomiting, so many homophobic jokes, so little plot.
107. I GIVE IT A YEARAn ugly, loveless rom-com that isn't clever enough to be satire.
106. DEAD MAN DOWNAll I remember is a whole lot of dark alleyways.
105. A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN IIIThe best part is the closing credits (I'm not being flip, they're actually kind of fun).
104. MOVIE 43Bad offensive joke after bad offensive joke after bad offensive joke...
103. WINNIE MANDELADesperately important story turned into a desperately dull movie.
102. TWICE BORNNo summary available due to lack of anything interesting happening in this movie.
101. R.I.P.D.Somebody forgot to give Ryan Reynolds any jokes.
New Line Cinema via Everett Collection
100. THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONEThis movie could have been funny if Wonderstone wasn't such a d**k.
99. ONLY GOD FORGIVESInteresting in the moments when it's not shoving its unpleasantness down your throat.
98. MAN OF STEELSetup: cerebral reinvention of Superman. Payoff: mass property damage.
97. CARRIEBeat-by-beat remake without any of the original's spirit.
96. THE TO DO LISTUncomfortably raunchy and mean. Thank God for Bill Hader.
95. KICK-ASS 2More Mean Girls shtick would have benefited this weak sequel.
94. PHANTOMI'm not sure this was actually a finished movie.
93. WRONGObnoxiously nonsensical, but not without its share of laughs.
92. THE SMURFS 2Mostly cloying, but Neil Patrick Harris is incurably watchable.
91. HANSEL &amp; GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS Dumb.
90. JOBSBoring.
89. NOW YOU SEE MEPossibly the worst ending in a 2013 movie, but a few bits of fun along the way.
88. WE'RE THE MILLERS[Pop culture reference]
87. RED 2John Malkovich's facial contortions save this from total failure.
86. STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS It hsa a few pros, but is mostly one giant... well, you know.
85. RIDDICKSurprisingly intriguing, when it isn't being deplorably sexist.
84. FREE BIRDSEh, turkeys are kinda funny.
83. PRISONERS Thankfully, scenes of Hugh Jackman yelling are intercut with the far superior scenes of Jake Gyllenhaal yelling.
82. WHITE REINDEER Any minute now, this movie is going to reveal its inner glory! Any minute now!
81. EVIL DEAD A better horror flick than the original! But still mostly forgettable.
Vertical Entertainment
80. GBFMostly charming, undone by its "safe" and "classy" ending.
79. THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALISTIt's kind of hard to get past how boring the title is.
78. DESPICABLE ME 2 Lots of minions. People like minions, right?
77. JOHN DIES AT THE END Not nearly as weird as it thinks it is or wants to be.
76. 2 GUNSHey, wait a minute, this movie is kinda funny! ... Not that funny, but kinda.
75. SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES MEI like to call this movie Click Offerman.
74. WHITE HOUSE DOWNWould be more fun if we were ready to laugh about terrorism.
73. AT ANY PRICEBoooriii— HOLY S**T WHERE THE F**K DID THAT COME FROM?!
72. BAD MILONot quite up to par with your expectations for the "Ken Marino has a demon in his butt" synopsis.
71. MONSTERS UNIVERSITYLackluster prequel, nice to look at, big band music.
70. THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES In its audacity, this silly amalgam of YA tropes can actually be a lot of fun.
69. THE CONJURING Fascinating subplots about the exorcism industry would be better served at the head of the film.
68. PEEPLESThere's a joke about wristwatches that I still think about.
67. SIDE EFFECTSSoderbergh's farewell caper doesn't have as much fun as its loony plot would demand.
66. ELYSIUMBroad and clumsy, but how wrong can you go with Bald Matt Damon?
65. OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFULIt works with Dark Side of the Moon.
64. THE COUNSELORThe book was better. Wait, this wasn't a book? Well it should have been.
63. IN A WORLD...A fun, biting look at an unappreciated industry! ... until it dissolves into mild genericism.
62. THE LONE RANGER Oh come on, you didn't love the William Tell climax?
61. THE WOLVERINENot always engaging, but at least it's about something.
Summit Entertainment via Everett Collection
60. WARM BODIESNot really about anything, but at least it's engaging.
59. THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWNUndeniably powerful, but feels like it could use a few more revisions.
58. ENDER'S GAMESpace Camp: The Movie! (Slightly less expensive than actual space camp.)
57. PACIFIC RIMMonsters vs. robots aside, there's a riveting world constructed in the backdrop of this sci-fi epic.
56. ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUESThe battle royale does not disappoint.
55. YOU'RE NEXTThe fun, swift hook isn't nearly as interesting as the great character work that it replaces.
54. THE WAY WAY BACKI, too, long to get life advice from a waterpark-dwelling Sam Rockwell.
53. SOME VELVET MORNINGEven if you see the twist coming, the chemistry here is impeccable.
52. THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIREShut up, Peeta, I'm trying to watch all the good parts of this movie.
51. 20 FEET FROM STARDOMA story that deserves a little more spirit and energy than it is given in this documentary.
50. DON JONNo. 50 on "Best Movies" list, No. 1 on "Best Trailers."
49. THE ROCKETA feel-good kids' adventure substantiated by the gravities of war. Wins in both areas.
48. CRYSTAL FAIRY &amp; THE MAGICAL CACTUS AND 2012Beautifully shot, interestingly written, impressively acted.
47. MUD Yes, we all loved The Goonies, and we all loved David Wooderson, so...
46. CUTIE AND THE BOXER A vivid struggle that is equal parts artistically, martially, and internally based. Engrossing all the way.
45. CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Tom Hanks' best performance in ages in a dramatic thriller that feels real (for obvious reasons).
44. THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG As a Legend of Zelda fan, this movie's world awakened something in me.
43. FRUITVALE STATIONThis character story is at odds with its out-universe goal, but Michael B. Jordan is unforgettable.
42. BEFORE MIDNIGHTI'm still not sure how I feel about that ending, but it was good to catch up wit Jesse and Celine.
41. DARK TOUCHEverything that Carrie could have been. A shocking fantasy about human pains.
Walt Disney Co via Everett Collection
40. THOR: THE DARK WORLDMore Chris O'Dowd.
39. BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLORIntellectually stimulating, but doesn't hit all its emotional marks.
38. THE WORLD'S ENDI've been saying "Gooey Wooey Egg Man" for months.
37. THE GREAT GATSBYLights! Music! Pizzazz! Moxy! The bee's knees! The cat's pajamas!
36. ENOUGH SAIDBest TV drama's male lead + best TV comedy's female lead = quite a charming romantic dramedy.
35. SIGHTSEERSWell, this is rather amusi— HOLY S**T WHERE THE F**K DID THAT COME FROM?!
34. THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINESNot sure if the "three stories" approach makes for the most powerful character work, but it's an enchanting ride.
33. THE WE AND THE I A bus full of inner-city high school kids turns into a magical kingdom thanks to Gondry's dreamy edge.
32. NEWLYWEEDSA love triangle with marijuana as the third party. Weighty, but never overly so, and funny throughout.
31. GRAVITY. . .
30. PRINCE AVALANCHE Heh heh, look at Paul Rudd's mustache.
29. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Yes, we all loved the 'ludes scene. Very, very much.
28. ALL IS LOSTRobert Redford, you still got that same oomph. You too, ocean.
27. SAVING LINCOLN The weirdest, goofiest, funniest biopic about Abraham Lincoln ever.
26. THE KINGS OF SUMMER Kids run away, live in the woods, grow up, make jokes. Always a charming endeavor.
25. AMERICAN HUSTLE Little more than a cartoon, but an emotionally explosive and riotous one at that.
24. THE HEAT Melissa McCarthy insisting on stepping out of a moving car earns a full five minutes of laughter alone.
23. DRINKING BUDDIESNever dips too low on the emotional spectrum, but stays real and fresh in the face of the rom-com genre.
22. UPSTREAM COLORA difficult, confusing, harrowing thinker.
21. STOKER Somehow both effectively haunting and deliciously fun.
Room 237: the movie/Facebook
20. ROOM 237 Less a doting tribute to The Shining or Kubrick than it is to movie-lovers and their bottomless well of theories.
19. BLUE JASMINE Each party fires on all cylinders in Woody Allen's Streetcar gem, Sally Hawkins especially.
18. S#X ACTSThe sadness of this story of our youth's desperate obsession with and reliance on sex is its authenticity.
17. IRON MAN 3 The first true action comedy in Marvel's line of films shows how much fun superhero movies can really be.
16. ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW Take notes, John Dies at the End. THIS is one weird f**king movie.
15. NEBRASKA Father vs. son, past vs. present, dreams vs. reality. Everything here is touching, funny, and inviting.
14. PAIN &amp; GAIN Michael Bay talks a long, hard look in the mirror with this biting send-up of everything his other movies represent.
13. THIS IS THE ENDFar more interesting and insightful than it will get credit for being, This Is the End uses a literal apocalypse and no dearth of d**k jokes to deconstruct tenets of friendship and social politics.
12. THE ACT OF KILLING While this documentary would benefit from restructuring, the power of its message (especially its final few monents, not to mention the "anonymous"-heavy credits) is painfully resonant.
11. FROZENOffering the magic and whimsy you'll remember from time-honored Disney classics, but so much more in the way of its message, Frozen might very well be the most magnificent and meaningful animated feature yet to spring from Walt's legacy.
10. COMPUTER CHESSIt doesn't have much to say about the human condition (beyond maybe highlighting our propensity for arrogance and self-directed delusion). It doesn't tell a story that'll stick with you for very long. But Computer Chess reigns supreme as, far and away, the funniest movie of 2013.
9. SPRING BREAKERS A dark, wicked, wholly upsetting reflection of the toxic direction in which we might be headed. And James Franco gives a tour-de-force of a performance with his demonic scoutmaster Alien.
8. IT'S A DISASTER An intelligent, meticulously directed farce about group politics and conflicting personal philosophies, executed to near perfection thanks to the rhythmic participation of a more than capable cast.
7. 12 YEARS A SLAVEAn unprecedented masterpiece that sings the traumas not only of Solomon Northrup, a free man captured and sold into slavery, but in his fellow sufferers as well. For my money, the true anchor of the story is in Lupita Nyong'o's Patsey, whose suffering is unlike anything we've seen managed on the big screen in years.
6. HER With so much to say about such tremendous topics, Her manages to still dive so deep into the heart of its story: the pangs of love in the wake of the inevitable fallibilities of romantic relationships. Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson alike give dynamic performances, and Spike Jonze mystifies us with his strange, cold, all-too-familiar world.
A24 via Everett Collection
5. THE SPECTACULAR NOWThis is one of those movies you try to convince yourself to inch out of your top 10, or five, for fear of being seen as juvenile. ButThe Spectacular Now hits such genuine notes with Miles Teller's Sutter, climaxing at a moment where you'll recognize an angst so true to life and so criminally absent from most movies about the journey toward self-love.
IFC Films
4. FRANCES HA Months and months after my first encounter with it, this deceptively simple film sticks in my head, reminding me that its every artful beat is riddled with emotional weight and ironic humor alike. Greta Gerwig and director Noah Baumbach give us the a New York movie to rival Annie Hall, zooming in and out of the perspective of the young women and men who occupy, and drown within, today's version of the biggest, most stupefying city in the world.
CBS Films
3. INSIDE LLEWYN DAVISSadness, coldness, loneliness, failure... such wonderful things when handled by filmmakers like the Coen Brothers. Padding this antithesis of triumph with some of the most beautiful, somber music you'll hear all year, Inside Llewyn Davis makes us fall in love all over again with the very idea of the artistic struggle.
Touchstone Pictures via Everett Collection
2. THE WIND RISESHayao Miyazaki's final movie doesn't pass judgment on its hero, a man so devoted to his work (building weapons) that he neglects his wife, sister, and friends. It doesn't endorse these choices either. Instead, it hones in on the passions of its hero/antihero, challenging us to sympathize with a fellow whose only desire is to do his job while we lament his sacrifices. More even than Gravity does the frequently airborne animated picture induce dizzy spells as we connect with the conglomerate of colorful, intriguing characters in this grim but dainty biography.
Cinedigm via Everett Collection
1. SHORT TERM 12 There are so few flaws to highlight in The Wind Rises, Inside Llewyn Davis, Frances Ha, and the other entries on this top 10 list. What separates Short Term 12 is not a complete lack of error, but in an umatched spirit for the telling of its story. The movie wants us to feel the pains of counselor Grace (Brie Larson) and the disavantaged children for whom she cares, highlighting abused Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) and orphan Marcus (Keith Stanfield). It also wants us to feel the hope that it brings to these characters in their plight to overcome the hands they have been dealt. Every emotion in this movie carries through with such force. For those of us who know any of these trials personally, they ring tremendously true. For others, they work to invite you into this sad but hopeful world. We've been gifted with a ton of exemplary cinematic works this year, but nothing sticks with me more than this tearful, heartrending masterpiece.
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Pop star Nick Jonas has reached out to fans online to assure them he is safe after landing at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) terminal where a shooting broke out on Friday (01Nov13). A gunman opened fire on a Transport Security Administration (TSA) official at a Terminal 3 checkpoint at around 9.30am local time, prompting police to evacuate the building and its surrounding areas.
Authorities claim the suspect, who has since been identified as 23-year-old Paul Anthony Ciancia, used a rifle to kill one employee before engaging in a shoot out with airport cops, injuring at least seven others.
Earlier, unconfirmed reports suggested Ciancia had been killed, while sources now tell the Los Angeles Times that he is in custody and in critical condition.
All flights in and out of LAX were grounded as a result, and actor James Franco took to his Twitter.com page to reveal that his plane was among those affected.
Now Jonas has told fans of his experiences on Twitter after arriving at the LAX terminal which has been temporarily shut down.
He tweeted, "Landed at LAX... to the news that there was a shooting in the terminal my plane was supposed to deplane at... Currently waiting on the plane in a remote parking area. I am safe. Praying for the victims of this shooting."
Meanwhile, Glee star Mark Salling has been forced to scrap plans to spend the weekend (01-03Nov13) in Dallas, Texas after his flight out of Los Angeles was axed.
He writes on Twitter, "Otw (on the way) to lax and I hear there was a shooting at the terminal I'm going to. No Dallas for me this weekend, hope everyone is ok. I hate u (sic) LAX".
A host of celebrities, including Salling's Glee co-star Amber Riley, Alyssa Milano, Kelly Osbourne and Josh Groban, have expressed their shock and horror online, while Billy Ray Cyrus tweets, "Thoughts and prayers for all the victims and those affected by the shooting at LAX today."

NBC
Parks and Recreation has settled back into its familiar groove, with Leslie's (Amy Poehler) struggle to keep her council seat serving as a nice framing device that informs the stories around the office. But no real forward momentum is achieved, primarily because the petty Councilman Jamm (Jon Glaser) ties her up in an obviously manufactured trial about an inappropriate tweet sent from the Parks Dept. Twitter.
For all the talk, we never get to see the offending picture... but it's not a full-on Anthony Weiner, just a racy snapshot of a pair of lips and an eggplant and the caption "See you tonight. Hope you like tongue baths, you big nasty fireman," which, as far as inappropriate tweets go, seems pretty tame. However, it didn't stop Leslie from being railroaded at every opportunity for her negligence by Jamm. Surprisingly, we get Donna (Retta) in a main plot this week, as she proved to be the offending tweet-er, and the trial uncovers some rude things she wrote about Leslie on her personal page. However, for some reason, the conflict between Leslie and Donna clears up through Chris (Rob Lowe), not via a confrontation between Leslie Donna. It would have been nice to see a little bit more of Leslie and Donna alone, since the season (and the show) has been a little Donna-starved, and Donna's frustration at Leslie being "annoying" was solved a bit too simply.
It also continues its parade of guest stars, with the appearance of Tatiana Maslany as Nadia, a doctor from Indianapolis looking to book a park with Tom (Aziz Ansari) and April (Aubrey Plaza). You'd think Tom would have more game after dating Jama Williamson, Natalie Morales, Rashida Jones, and even Jenny Slate as the crazy Mona-Lisa. But, instead, at the sight of Maslany he panics and immediately begins faking a British accent. Maslany is of course best known for her lingual flexibility on Orphan Black, so to see her baffled by Tom's attempt at being dapper (and then, of course, being forced to drop it) feels like a nice reference to that show while still grounding it in character. From there, Tom attempts bribery, stalling, and eventually, outright lying in hopes of charming Nadia, but in the end what wins her over is April's blunt assessment of why she should give him a chance: "You're way out of his league. There's literally no risk for you at all."
The ensemble feels a little light this week, but that may just be due to the lack of Ann and Andy, as almost every other character appears and had something to do. Ron (Nick Offerman) and Ben (Adam Scott) tackle the thrilling subject of estate planning, as we find out that Ron's will is a single sentance he wrote when he was eight (of course it is) and he now has an outrageous amount of money (of course he does). Eventually, Ben must convince Ron to file a real will in order to protect his children. While Ron's reluctant transformation into a family man is sweet, it's also becoming somewhat one-note already, and could be time to switch it up for the character. But if they keep adding great bits like the ongoing accountant/lawyer rivalry between Ben and his attorney, I'll still be laughing. Who knew lawyers hated puns so much?
Questions, Comments, and Concerns:-Ron, on making his first joke: "I don't care for it."-Tom's burgundy suit was pretty fly. Looks like now that Rent-A-Swag is defunct he's got all of those clothes to himself again. -The Anti-Leslie "Committee to Recall Leslie Knope" farting Knope dolls is kind of lame for a show that's this funny.-Leslie's idea to add question mark stickers to "Recall Knope" signs backfires when April gets ahold of them, making every sign around the town read like a hypothetical. Also great: she creates a question mark plastered fascinator in the shape of an exploding firework. -#BitchBoss is obviously an insult, while #BossBitch is a total compliment. #PsychoBoss probably most accurately describes Leslie.-Ron is confident that he will not die at the hand of an accountant, lawyer, or wild boar.-DJ Roomba lives!
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